Toulon ‘can win next five games’

Editor

Toulon flanker Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe has said that the reigning champions are still quietly confident that they can win all five of their remaining matches in the Champions Cup group stage.

The veteran added that Sunday's big loss away to Wasps would be a wake-up call for the squad.

Lobbe went on to cite Toulon's poor start in Europe two seasons ago as an example of how the team will be able to bounce back.

"Everyone has taken a hit after that defeat, but it's good now," Lobbe told the EPC Rugby website.

"We've lost matches in the last two seasons but gone onto win, like when we were beaten in Cardiff (15-19). We were not in a good position but we had qualified and we won the European Cup.

"We just have to win the next five games. We will be quietly confident but we know it will be hard."

Pinpointing where the champions were caught out, Lobbe believed that a slow start on the scoreboard ultimately cost Toulon.

"We have not been very effective in defence and we conceded 14 points very quickly. Thirty points is a lot," he added.

"It was a bad game, we have not had a lot of highlights and we were only efficient on rare occasions. They had five opportunities and scored four tries. We will watch the video and put it next to the game.

"Now, we have to recover for Clermont next week quickly (Saturday). We have a very good group to be among the top teams in both competitions."